Building block



Dec. 21, 1937. G. A. SMITH Er AL BUILDING BLOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 3, 1936 mw w a y alu Dec. 21, 1937. G. A. SMITH ET AL BUILDING BLOCK Filed July 3, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l.. W W

In Ve'no n @0965 A. :JM/TH M/LTON 5. VAN 3l/55N by /W/'r/fome/g Patented Dec. 2l, 1937 BUILDING BLOCK George A. Smith, Chevy Chase, Md., and Milton S. Van Dilsen, Washington, D. C.

Application July 3, 1936, Serial No. 88,772

2 Claims.

(Cl. 'l2-16) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) This application is made under the act oi' March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention, if patented, may be manufactured' and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

Our invention relates to the art of insulation, and has particular reference to the thermal insulation of buildings and other structures.

Our invention contemplates a wall structure, and in some cases a floor or ceiling structure, in which air spaces are provided for the purpose of eliminating or reducing the transmission of heat or cold, moisture, or sound. Hollow structures for such purposes have already been known to those skilled in the art, but our invention is an improvement thereon and has many advantages, as will be hereafter set forth.

The invention will be described with reference to the thermal insulation of buildings, but it should be distinctly understood that the principles of our invention are applicable to other forms of insulation of any nature whatsoever. Furthermore, our invention, for the purpose of simplicity, will refer to the insulation of a dwelling which is at a higher temperature within than without, although our novel structure will be equally efcacious if the temperatures are the opposite. Also, the invention may be used in refrigerators,

,storage houses, freight cars, or other structures. Our invention will be readily understood from the accompanying drawings, which show illustrative examples thereof, it being understood that these examples are not limitative and that departures therefrom may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Fig. l shows, in vertical partial cross-section, a wall structure in accordance with the principles of our invention.

Fig. 2 shows a modiiied form of partition that may be used in the wall structure oi' Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through a prefabricated building block.

Fig. 4 is a modified form of the building block shown in Fig. 3.

The wall structure of a house is shown in Fig. 1. Wooden sheathing III is nailed or otherwise attached to the horizontal supporting or framing members I2, I3, and Il. On the outside of the sheathing Ill are applied shingles, siding, or similar members I8, and on the inside ofthe wooden members I2, I3, and Il is applied the plaster or similar nishing material I9. Obviously, these materials may be brick, metal, stone, or any others which may be suitable for the purpose of construction.

The chamber within the wall structure comprises two air spaces 2I and 22 which are defined by a partition 25. This partition is shown as being approximately in the center of the chamber, but it mayv be varied to be nearer one side of the structure than the other. 'I'he partition 25 extends substantially the length of the wall structure perpendicular to the plane of the paper and is supported at the front and rear or top and bottom by cleats, channel irons, nails, grooves, adhesive, tie wires, or any other means. The partition 25 extends from top to bottom of the air, chamber and may be supported from the horizontal supporting members I3 and I4, or the studs (not shown), or both. y

The partition 25 is made of any material which is suitable for the purpose of insulation. Consequently, it may be made of blanket material, fibre board, wood, metal, minerals, water-proofing, or any other of the long list of appropriate materials. Naturally, if the insulation is to reduce the transmission of heat, heat-resistant and heat-reflective materials will be employed. With particular reference to thermal insulation, we employ surfaces which are highly reflective, and with this end in view, the partition 25 may consist of metal sheeting or metal foil, or, as shown in Fig. 2, it may comprise a central supporting member 26, with the reflective insulating materials 2'I and 28 applied thereto by adhesive or other means. The partition 25 is apertured at the top and bottom, as shown at 3I and 32 respectively, although there may be a plurality of such apertures at each end. Ii.' desired, the partition 25 may be spaced from the wooden framing members I3 and I4 to pro-v vide openings between it and them. 'I'he purpose of these apertures or openings will become clear from a description of the operation of the struc- 40 ture.

If we assume normal winter-time conditions, the inner wall I9 will be maintained at a much higher temperature than the outer sheathing I0. Heat may be lost through conduction by means of the air in the chamber and of the studs and the Wooden members I2, I3, and I4; through radiation; and through convection by means of air currents within the chamber.

The metallic foil 21 or 28 on the partition should be highly polished to reflect practically all the heat which impinges thereon. T'he wooden framing members I2, I3, and I4 and the wooden studs will be poor conductors of heat. The assembly,

therefore, will be an eiiicient insulator so long the insulating materials retain their prokerties. lf, however, the temperature Within the air chamber falls below the dew point, the moisture in the air chamber will he condensed and will be deposited on the cold surface of the air chamber, which 'surface will be the wood sheathing i0. lf the out-door temperature is low enough, the pantition 25 will also be cooled so that its temperature may be below the dew point of the air in chamber 22. If this chamber is tight or closed entirely as it would be normally in building construction and the partition' 25 is cooled suiilciently, the moisture in the chamber 22v will be deposited on the righthand side of the partition 25 or on the metallic deleterious effects than a similar coating of moisture on the sheathing I0, because the metallic coating 28 will immediately lose-most oi' its refleeting properties, and will in time corrde. If the partition 25 comprises blanket material. bre board, or similar material, it will become wet and soggy and will eventually rot. In any case, it will lose much of its emciency as an insulating material. The primary purpose of our invention is to avoid or reduce to a minimum the deposition of moisture on or Within the partition 25.

To this end, the openings 3| and 32, which are of a predetermined size and number, permit a slight passage oi air from the chamber 22 to the chamber 2|. It is understood that the composite size of such openings as may be provided is relatively small and will not materially ailect the overall insulation produced by the partition 25. The sheathing I being the coldest, .the air contiguous thereto will be cooled and will sink, whereas the air adjacent to the relatively warm plaster `|9 will become warm and will rise, resulting ,in a counter-clockwise circuit. The partition 25 will act as a dening wall for a portion of the air in both chambers, so that there will be counterclockwise currents of air in the chamber 2| and in the chamber 22, as well as a small simultaneous flow of air from one chamber to the other through the openings 3| and 32. With this arrangement. all the exuded water will be condensed on the sheathing I0, where it will do the least harm to the insulating properties of the complete wall structure.

For ceiling or roofing structures, we may provide horizontal partitions 25 similarly arranged 'and apertured, so that the moisture is condensed on the inner side of the coldest wail, instead o on the partition Figs. 3 and d illustrate two forms of pre-fabricated building b-lochs constructed in accordance with. theprlnciples oi. our invention. These blocks may be of any suitable size or shape, and may be made of any materials common to the art of building. In both cases, the outer wall is shown at 5u and the inner wall at 5|. It is understood that these walls may be thinner or thicker than as shown and may be made of different materials. The two air chambers 52 and 53 are defined by a partition which comprises a supporting member 54 of wood or other suitable material and the 1 metallic surfaces 55 and 56. In Fig. 3, the partisurface 28. This deposition will have i'ar more""` tion is spaced from the upper and lower webs of the building block to provide passage ways for the air in the respective chambers to pass from one to the other, as shown by the arrows. In Fig. 4, the partition is apertured, similar to the manner shown in Fig. 1, to provide the appropriate openings 58 and 59. The partition may comprise a unitary structure, like that shown in Fig. 1, and may be made of any suitable material or combination of materials.

Having now described our invention, what we now claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. A wall structure comprising an outer and inner shell and an insulating partition therebetweeny adapted to divide the air space enclosed by said shell, said partition having apertures formed therein and adapted to permit the passage of a portion of the air in one subdivision into another, thereby causing the warm moisture laden air to pass from the warmer to the cooler chamber and inhibiting condensation on said insulating partition.

2. A Wall structure comprising an outer and inner vshell and an insulating partition therebetween adapted to divide the air space enclosed by said shell, said partition adapted to be supported in said shell in such a manner as will provide an aperture above and below the partition, and adapted to permit the passage of a portion of the ailin one subdivision into another, thereby causing the warm moisture laden air to pass from the Warmer to the cooler chamber and inhibiting condensation on said insulating partition.

GEORGE A. Sli/HTH. lVIILTON S. VAN DUSEN. 

